게시판 읽기 영역

Twenty-six-year-old Wang Hong took two weeks off from work and flew all the way from Beijing, China for a consultation on getting a nose job in Korea.
[Interview : Wang Hong, Tourist from Beijing] "I heard Korea has a high standard of plastic surgery, so I came for a consultation to get some work done."
Last year alone, more than 110 thousand foreigners came to Korea for medical tourism.
The latest figures released by the Bank of Korea show that foreigners spent more than 100 million US dollars on medical procedures in Korea in 2011.
This is the highest amount since the central bank first started keeping track of the numbers in 2006. and double the total from five years ago.
Meanwhile, the number of Koreans going abroad on medical trips decreased last year for the first time which means there are more people coming in to Korea than out of the country for medical purposes.
[Interview : Kim Han-ul, chkim@arirang.co.kr] "The Ministry of Health and Welfare reports that the number of foreigners visiting Korea on medical tourism has been rising steadily showing a 30 percent increase in 2011 compared to the year earlier."
The most popular destinations were plastic surgery and dermatology clinics followed by the department of internal medicine.
The Korea Tourism Organization is on the lookout for the economic potential of medical tourism.
[Interview : Jin Soo-nam, Executive Director
Korea Tourism Organization, Medical Tourism Dept.] "If we bring in two medical tourists to Korea, it has the same effect of exporting one medium-sized car. And if we raise 1 million won in medical tourism, 26 people will have new jobs."
The KTO hopes that medical tourism will create more jobs for Koreans and further boost the tourism industry.
Kim Han-ul, Arirang News.